Steinbeck's Acceptance Speech

Carol, any "insider" position and access you have, such as conversations with the squadron members, is always a marketing tool. It's part of your pitch about why you're the one to write the book. Re the Hemingway quotes, if they're published somewhere, you need to get permission from whoever published them.

Shelagh wrote:

the book is being marketed to podiatry students. He signed a contract in April 2007 and the deadline was April 2008. A year to write and a year to wait for the book to appear online.

Marketed directly to students instead of to professors? It must be a general reference book then? My book is pitched directly to the professors who teach that subject, with the hope that they'll adopt it as required for their classes.

My first text took two years to write, no partner. It was another four months in production. It is heavily illustrated and was sent to a composition house in New Delhi to be laid out. Then it was printed in Canada. My second text will take about a year and a half (I've been working on it for eight months, it's another solo production, but this time I know what I'm doing, lol). I don't know where this pub will send it for layout, I hope not New Delhi again.

LC,

The second edition (he's working on it now as I type!) originally took ten years to write and then two years to publish. This is the first edition on Google:

http://books.google.com/books?id=yPamghW63NUC&pg=PA352&dq=0880116862&ei=m83USbrhGZq0MZ_PnIUD#PPP1,M1

All the drawings are my husband's original drawings.

More information about the book and author:

http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?isbn=0880116862&associate=3906

10 years? I take it he didn't have a contract until near the end? I went over my contract time by about ten months, and the pub got testy about that. It didn't help that I went way over budget for pages and illustrations, too, oh well. I sold both texts on proposal only. I would never have done all the work they required without a contract.

So he did all his own illustrations? Pencil and ink? I guess that's what took him ten years, lol. I do some of my illustrations, but I pay someone to do most of them. They're done on AutoCAD and Photoshop. I also ask working professionals to let me use stuff I see on their portfolio websites in return for a caption credit. That's where I get the really cool stuff.

He taught summer school at the University of Victoria in 1985, '87 and '89. The students asked for a set text in '85 and there wasn't one, so he decided to write one. In '87 they asked if the book was out! They had to wait another ten years! The book was first published in 1999 (two years in production after the book was finally written and submitted) and the second edition should be out next year.

Shelagh wrote:

The book was first published in 1999 (two years in production after the book was finally written and submitted) and the second edition should be out next year.

Two years in production? I don't understand -why so long?

For my first text, the production phase started as soon as I submitted the reworked manuscript (much of it had to be redone after reviews). The phase consisted of pdf conversions, labeling, page layout, proof-reading and editing. That took about four months. Printing was another month, then it was out.

They "crafted" the book: 367 pages, 11.3 x 8.8 x 1.1 inches. I think there are over 200 line drawings plus tables, graphs and flow charts. It seemed a long time, but now it has been out for five times as long as it took to produce. The second edition will take much less time.

Shelagh -my text is 500 pages, with about 700 illustrations. So I'm still wondering.

So did we at the time! LOL!